What is the true business cost of wellbeing?

Business are starting to wake up to the cost of stress – with £9Billion(1) lost to the UK economy due to days off sick and over half of this estimated to be due to mental and physical health problems triggered by stress – more organisations are waking up to rethink wellbeing.

Waiting for a mental health breakdown in one of your staff is not a reason to act. Putting wellbeing at the heart of your business from an early point, has a massive impact on business success and bottom line. And it's not just in the way that Richard Branson comments on how looking after staff, leads to cared for customers and a business that takes care of itself. A wellbeing strategy can cover ethics, sustainability, company values, supply chain improvements, leadership, staff resilience and peak performance and that's just for starters.

But don’t just take Branson's word for it. The University of Warwick and Social Market Foundation conducted research showing how ‘ happy staff are more productive ’.

Ignoring wellbeing can cost you in other ways. Bullying and harassment cases and constructive unfair dismissal costs businesses up to £80k per case – and in the event of a proven discrimination case, there is no limit to the amount of compensation that can be awarded.

Business leaders recommend prevention to try to head off negative behaviours and prevent claims and organisations such as – ACAS recommend strategies that focus proactively on ensuring worker well-being and fostering good workplace relations.

What do these strategies look like?

For England’s football team - we got further in the 2018 World Cup than we have in years, through in the moment f ocus and control – ensuring that you ‘write your own stories’ not getting caught in limiting beliefs from the past.

For Interface the carpet tile company it was a business shake up that changed the company’s ethics to the core – shifting it from a petrochemical based company to a sustainable business working to make a difference to global wellbeing. What makes people really listen to this story is that this crisis of conscience that led to an ethical wellbeing decision, has been a brilliant commercial succes s.

For your business – perhaps it is time to write your own success story?

Whether you want a whole wellbeing strategy or an intevention/training to support staff, come and have a chatabout your business wellbeing and you'll get a fresh perspective on what wellbeing can deliver for your business.

1) Source HSE 2015/2016 http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/cost.htm

2) Source Social Market Foundation 2015 http://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Social-Market-Foundation-Publication-Briefing-CAGE-4....